Carbon Emissions

A new study, led by a University of Southampton scientist, highlights the potential for fish communities in marine reserves to resist climate change impacts better than communities on fished coasts.

The study, which is published today in the journal Nature Climate Change, involved an Australian research team from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Marine and Atmospheric Research.

The event, hosted by the Welsh Government and sponsored by the Minister for Natural Resources, Alun Davies, brought together independent and internationally renowned scientists from the Met Office, the Climate Change Consortium of Wales and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Resource following the recent publication of a comprehensive assessment of global climate change by the UN.

Aberystwyth University is set to sign agreements with Seoul National University to share miscanthus germplasm, based on principles of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to help boost bioenergy production and combat climate change.

East Asian indigenous genetic resources of miscanthus are useful for improving existing miscanthus bioenergy crops elsewhere in the world. Miscanthus may be used to create higher energy yields on lower grade lands which are less suitable for food production.

European energy policy makers recognise the importance of bioenergy crops in the future mix of renewables, and national policies are being developed to encourage their commercial deployment.

Analysts say there could be a protracted legal dispute, with the EU unlikely to give way.China has "banned" all airlines in the country from joining the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) aimed at cutting carbon emissions.

The authorities have also barred the airlines from increasing their fares or adding new charges for the scheme.

The ban comes just weeks after the China Air Transport Association said its members did not support the ETS.

The government has admitted breaching European Union pollution legislation, during a High Court battle with environmental campaign group. Lawyers for Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman made the admission following action by ClientEarth.

But Judge Mr Justice Mitting said any enforcement action was a matter for the European Commission.

He refused to make any declaration, or to order Mrs Spelman to outline plans for cutting pollution levels.

In what is being internationally heralded as a victory for the world's indigenous peoples, Brazilian construction company, Odebrecht, has announced its withdrawal from the planned development of the Tambo-40 Hydroelectric Dam on the Tambo River in the Peruvian Amazon, due to the strong opposition by potentially affected indigenous communities.

EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation has published a compensation package of measures for energy intensive sectors that it believes government must introduce or, risk future investment and job creation in the UK.

At 7am this morning eight women from environmental action group Climate Rush visited the homes of Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone – the Conservative and Labour London Mayoral candidates. Dressed in scrubs and wearing surgical masks the women invited the two candidates to commit to bringing London’s air quality within legal limits and to join a direct action protest planned for the evening of Wednesday 13th July.

Green campaigners praise David Cameron and his energy secretary, Chris Huhne, for setting bold new carbon emissions cuts. And so they should. The UK now has the toughest legally binding targets in the world, and with them the chance to be a leader in a job-rich green economic future. But that does not mean it has in place the policies to deliver.